South Carolina football: Steve Spurrier recaps biggest get, loss on recruiting trail

The HBC relived some memories on the recruiting trail with South Carolina football.

Steve Spurrier captured the South Carolina fanbase in the early 2000s, and helped lead the football program to new heights during his 10-year stint in Columbia. The Head Ball Coach led the Gamecocks to its first ever SEC Championship appearance, and followed it up with the best three-year run in school history.

Over the weekend, he sat down with beat writer Josh Kendall of The Athletic to relive some of his days on the recruiting trail in Columbia. Spurrier listed his biggest “gets” in recruiting, as well as his top “loss.”

First, let’s get to the recruiting wins. These were players that changed the program and the culture at South Carolina, and were integral in the success that the team experienced over between 2009-2013.

"At South Carolina, I’d put (Marcus) Lattimore right there with (Jadeveon) Clowney. They were both really, really highly recruited guys. Stephon Gilmore, we beat Alabama for Stephon and Clowney… As far as impact, I’d put Lattimore and Clowney right there together, and Stephon too."

Lattimore is known to be one of Spurrier’s favorite players during his time in Columbia. The five-star recruit would go on to an All-American freshman year, lead the SEC in yards from scrimmage, and set a school-record in career touchdowns. Unfortunately, two severe knee injuries cut the talented tailback’s career short, but he was certainly one of, if not the most, important recruiting wins of Steve Spurrier’s career.

Jadeveon Clowney, college football’s highest rated recruit of all-time, is another player mentioned by Spurrier. It goes without saying that this was a major win for the Gamecocks, who beat out Alabama and a host of other top programs to land his services. Clowney would go on to be a consensus All-American, Ted Hendricks award winner, Heisman finalist, and first overall NFL Draft pick. He set a school record with 24.5 tackles for loss in 2012 and is one of the most recognizable players in program history.

Stephon Gilmore, although mentioned after Clowney and Lattimore, was one of the more important “gets” for Spurrier and Co. during the 2009 class. He was a starter the day he stepped foot on campus, and wound up being a top 10 pick in the 2012 NFL Draft. The corner racked up eight interceptions over his three-year career.

Gilmore was also helpful in landing Clowney in the 2011 cycle, as the two had been high school teammates at South Pointe. Coach Spurrier has said that he relied on Gilmore to give updates on Clowney’s recruitment, as the superstar defensive end was rather quiet throughout the process.

Each of these three players were important, but now, let’s get to a player that could’ve made an impact in Columbia, but ultimately signed elsewhere.

Spurrier names Nick Chubb as his biggest miss, though he doesn’t seem to think he ever had a real chance to land the Peach State running back.

"I remember Nick Chubb, he visited one day in the summer… I was down at Crescent Beach. We had a place down there, and (running backs coach Everette) Sands said, “Chubb is coming down tomorrow, wanted to know if you could be up here.” I said, “Nick Chubb, running back from Georgia, he’s going to Georgia… So they asked about his recruiting visit, and he said, “Well, Coach Spurrier wasn’t even there.” They said, “If he was there, would it have made any difference?” He said, “Probably not…”  You know I could have driven up, given it my best shot, but I don’t think we would have gotten him either way."

Chubb would go on to rush for nearly 5,000 yards in Athens, before becoming a member of the Cleveland Browns. Chubb was part of the 2014 class, and would’ve been South Carolina’s replacement for Mike Davis. Unfortunately, he spurned the Gamecocks for the hometown Bulldogs and the rest is history.

Coach Spurrier left Columbia in 2015, retiring as the program’s all-time leader in wins. He still thinks fondly of his time in the South Carolina capital, and it’s always fun to hear him reflect upon his tenure with the Gamecocks. We may begin to see Spurrier around the program a little more with Shane Beamer taking over, as the two worked on staff together at South Carolina.